But while views of St Paul's Cathedral, Canary Wharf and Wembley Stadium are part of the attraction, visitors have remained curious about the interiors of the properties, which are reported to have cost up to £19 million.

Outgoing Tate director Sir Nicholas, speaking at Tate's annual press conference, said that residents of the Neo Bankside apartment complex knew what they were buying into.

"We, as anyone who's visited Tate Modern will be aware, put up some signs encouraging our visitors not to gesticulate, to recognise that people who live nearby have a right to some privacy," he said.

Sir Nicholas, who transformed the public's perception of modern art during his 28 years at the Tate, added: "Obviously that privacy will be enhanced if those people decided that they might put up a blind or net curtain or whatever, as is common in many places.

"Clearly, people purchasing those flats were in no doubt that Tate Modern was going to build its Switch House building and the character and uses of that building were widely known ... People purchased with their eyes wide open."